Too Good To Be True
by Sleep Warrior
Summary: It's Danny and Sam's 10 year high school reunion, and their band, the Phantom Chasers, is playing. Will a misunderstanding tear Danny and Sam apart before Danny's plan is complete? Lots of DxS
1. Chapter 1

Hey all! Yes, this is the sleep warrior, but I got a new account cuz I was sick of my sister teasing me for writing in the "little kid's category." But there are so many high school people and college students and middle school people in here! And I love this show! ACK, she is cruel at times. But now I can post all of my other stories and she thinks I've stopped. Oh, yes. The story. Well, it's actually a wonderful idea, if I do say so myself. And I think there are going to be multiple chapters, too. But it'll be short. Only three to five. So I hope you like it as well as my others! And if you don't know what those are, just check out my other account, "the sleep warrior". No capitals or anything. Enjoy!

WAIT! One more thing. If you REALLY want to, you can imagine this as a sorta sequel thing to Sam's Perfect Christmas, but there won't be any references to it. The only similarity is that they got together at Christmas and that they got together during their junior year. But if you want to think that, you can. It would work, I think.

Disclaimer: I don't own a lot of things. Like Danny Phantom, or Microsoft, or the college, or the song You're Just Too Good To Be True. But I do own the wonderfully beautiful "gee-tar" and Andy and Ryan and the band, I think. And the story idea itself. Yes. Ok, so I don't actually have a guitar that looks like Danny's, nor do I play. But it does look really cool! I'll try and draw it and post it somewhere for ya. Just remind me, or I'll forget.

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Danny and Tucker were lounging in the hotel room, listening to the radio and discussing their plans for the upcoming reunion. Lancer had pulled Danny and his band, the Phantom Chasers, into performing at their 10 year high school reunion, and Danny and Tucker were trying to figure out which songs to play.

"What about that Ember song? That'd bring back a lot of…well, a lot of memories." suggested Tucker. He had changed a lot since high school, trading in his red beret and glasses for a new haircut and contacts. His backpack full of technology had been replaced by a briefcase, laptop and cell phone, and he had shot up to about 6 feet, still 2 inches shy of Danny. Tucker had graduated from ITT Tech with a major in computer technology and had snagged a great job at Microsoft as a computer programmer.

Danny laughed at the thought of him singing Ember's (only) hit song at the reunion.

"Tuck, I had enough trouble just convincing Sam to come _without _making her sing one of Ember's songs. I don't think she'd want to re-live those memories."

"But Ember brought you two together! That's a good memory!"

Danny smiled, remembering their first encounter with the ghostly pop star.

"Well, I wouldn't say that. She put me under a love spell with her guitar, I don't think that qualifies as 'bringing us together.' We did that on our own a few years later."

Tucker grinned at his best friend, who had also changed a lot. Danny had shot up during their junior and senior years, towering over even Dash by graduation. He had ditched the familiar white tee for a black one with green flames on the arms and the band's logo across the front, a ghost fleeing from four musicians. His hair had been cut back a little, and his voice had deepened considerably. He had graduated with a major in astronomy, but had put that career on hold since his band had become fairly popular in the areas around Amity.

"Say, speaking of bringing you together, how's your plan going? Have you figured out how you're gonna ask yet?" Tucker asked.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Danny turned from his friend and looked out the window towards the school.

"I don't know. I can't find the right way to ask her. I mean, I've tried, but every time we're alone together we've either been interrupted or I lost my nerve. I just can't seem to find the right setting. How did you figure out how to propose to Valerie?"

Tucker smiled and sat back in his chair, remembering the day he had asked Valerie to marry him.

"Well, I just knew what she would have liked. I took her out to all of our favorite places, spoiled her rotten, you could say. We went to that little Italian place downtown, and then we took a walk in the park. When we got o that hill, you know the one with the great view? When we got there, I had a blanket laid out and we sat down. There was a meteor shower, and I asked her what she wished for. She just smiled and aid that was for her to know and me to find out. So I said that mine was that she would marry me. You should have seen the look on her face! She was speechless, and her mouth was hanging open in shock. But when I brought out the ring and put it on her finger, I couldn't get her to be quiet long enough for me to kiss her."

Tucker laughed quietly at the memory. "And the rest is history. We got married 5 months later."

Danny sighed dejectedly and turned back to his friend.

"Yeah, that was a great wedding. Sam and I got to dance together the whole time, and you two were so happy! You guys really were made for each other."

"So are you and Sam! What do you think I've been telling you these past 14 years!"

"I don't know, lately we've been more distant than normal. She seems really sad, and whenever I try to get her on her own something happens. I just don't know what to do. I'm out of ideas. I've tried dinners, movies, walks, but none of them have worked."

Tucker shook his head sadly and shrugged his shoulders.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to the oldies the radio was pumping out through the speakers. The song ended, and the DJ came back on. "That was 'Save the Last Dance For Me' by The Drifters. Next up is 'You're Just Too Good To Be True' by Frankie Valli."

The song started up, and Danny smiled to himself.

"Hey, Tucker! This is one of Sam's favorite songs. We should do this one for the reunion."

Tucker's face slowly lit up with a mischievous smile. He got up from his chair and walked towards the window. Once the song was just about over, he turned back to Danny.

"Danny, I've got the greatest idea for how you should propose."

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Sam and Valerie were in yet another store, still looking for a formal dress for Sam to wear to the reunion. Valerie had found hers at the second one, but they were in at least the tenth store, and Sam had rejected every dress she had seen so far. They were currently looking through the racks of black dresses, still unsuccessful in their search.

"Come on, Sam, there's got to be something here that you'll at least try on! What about this one?" she asked, holding up a black, strapless dress with a large removable flower on one side and silver sparkles on the skirt.

Sam rolled her eyes when she saw it. "Ugh, they're all so frilly!" she slammed yet another dress back onto the rack in frustration and whirled around to a different one, flying through those as well. "And just making it black doesn't make it better! Flowers? That designer needs to be shot."

Valerie tiredly put the rejected dress back on the rack. "Sam, stop for a second. I know something has been bothering you lately, but I've left it alone hoping you would figure it out on your own. Obviously you haven't, so tell me what's been bugging you. Maybe I can help."

Sam sighed and looked off into the mall, watching all the shoppers scurrying around.

"Well, it's Danny. He's been acting so strange lately, so distant. It's like he doesn't even know I'm there sometimes. He's been jumpy and nervous ever since he ran into _Paulina _here the other day." she said with a slight grow. "I-I think he's been trying to break up with me."

Valerie just stared at Sam, shocked at what she had just heard.

"You can't seriously think he's going to break up with you! There's got to be another reason for all of this! You guys were made for each other. Maybe it's a ghost problem."

Sam turned back towards Valerie and smiled sadly. "That's what I thought, too. But Tucker seems to be in on it too, and they never leave us out of the ghost fighting. You and Danny are the best ones out there. And the signs are all there—I just don't want to see them."

Valerie walked over to Sam and reassuringly put her hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Sam, listen to me. There is no way Danny is going to break up with you! Just because he saw Paulina in the mall the other day doesn't mean he's going to break off an 11 year relationship! He got over her years ago, he knows she's not someone he wants to be with." Sam trembled with anger as Valerie mentioned Paulina's name. Feeling this beneath her hand, Valerie smiled at her.

"See? Even mentioning her name sets you off. You hate her so much that you're afraid she'll steal the one thing that's most important to you. I want you to think about this for a while. I mean, there are thousands of different things that could be bugging him. If he wanted to break up with you, he would have done it a long time ago. You guys haven't been together for this long for nothing."

"Well, maybe, but—"

"No buts. When Tucker proposed to me, he was a nervous wreck for weeks before and after!" Valerie chuckled softly at the memory. He hadn't been able to get out one complete sentence, much less propose properly. He had stuttered so much when he asked she had to finish the question for him. Although, he seemed to remember it a lot differently then she did.

"Are you saying you think Danny's going to propose?" Sam looked sharply at her friend's face, searching for an answer.

"Well, maybe. It is possible—you guys have been together since junior year. It would make sense—the nervousness, the spacing, the defensiveness—it all fits."

Sam scowled and looked away. "I still don't think so. Especially since he ran into Paulina. It was only after he saw her that he started acting like this."

Valerie sighed, realizing Sam wasn't going to see the truth until it hit her in the face. "Alright, if you're going to be such a crab, let's just go. You can go to the reunion in jeans." She started walking off, but stopped when she heard Sam call her. Turning around, she saw a determined look on her friend's face.

"What's come over you? Finally seen the light?"

Sam smiled at her devilishly, and walked back to the racks. "No, but let's find me a dress that'll bring my guy back."

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"Danny, Tucker, we're back!" Sam yelled as they came through the door to their hotel room. Not hearing a response, she looked around to see if they had left, but found them sitting on the couch, talking to each other in lowered voices. She walk3ed over to them and waved her hand in front of their faces.

"Hey, um, guys? I said we were back. What planet did you decide to visit this time?"

Danny jumped up, smacking his knee on the table. "Ouch! Oh, Sam! Uh, hi! We were just working on a, um, the song list! Do you want to see it?" he pushed the paper towards her. Peering down, she saw one of her favorite songs.

"'You're Just Too Good To Be True'? Isn't that a bit inappropriate for a high school reunion?" she asked.

Danny's face fell. "But I thought you loved that song. That's why I picked it out. I mean if you don't want to do it—"

"No!" Sam interjected. "I do love it, but I just thought it wouldn't fit the whole reunion theme."

Danny's face brightened. "Great! Let's start working on it now. It's got to be perfect for Saturday."

He rushed over to the phone, dialing up the rest of the band.

"Hello? Hey, Andy, it's Danny….Yeah, about the concert, we've got a new song we need to practice. When can you and Ryan get down to the school?...Ok, that's great! We'll be right there…Ok, bye!"

He turned back to Sam, who was still next to the couch, bags in hand.

"Come on! The guys said they can be there in 5 minutes."

"But Danny, I just got back from an all day shopping trip! Valerie and I were going to go down to the pool area and soak in the hot tub for a few hours."

Frowning, he walked towards her. "But we can't do this without you, Sam. Can't you re-schedule? This shouldn't take too long, and I'm sure Valerie will understand. Won't you?" he asked, turning to Valerie.

'Sure. Go ahead, Sam, I'll still be here."

Sam looked at her, unsure of what to do. "Well, I guess, but—"

"Great!" Danny yelled. "Come on, let's go! And Tuck, thanks for the idea! You're the greatest!"

Tucker gave him a sly smile and winked at Sam. "No problem. Just don't go and mess it up, ok?"

"Don't worry, Tuck, I've got everything under control." he said, changing into Danny Phantom. He grabbed Sam's hand and flew out the window towards the school. Sam looked up at his beaming face, wondering what he was thinking about.

"What was that all about?" she asked. Danny jerked to a stop and stared at Sam like he'd forgotten she was even there.

"Oh, um, just the song. Yeah, we worked on it for so long, and it was really hard to get the harmonies down just right. Tucker just didn't want me to mess them up." He smiled nervously at Sam, rubbing the back of his neck and avoiding her stare. She looked at his face, searching to find how much of that was actually the truth. Deciding to go along with it, she just nodded her head.

"Oh, ok." His smile brightened and he started off towards the school again. _I wonder if this has anything to do with Paulina. _she thought. _Wait! The song, the nervousness, Paulina—he's going to ask her out! That's what Tucker meant by don't mess it up! Oh my gosh, Danny's going to break up with me! _

This revelation caused her to glance up at his face. He didn't seem to be enjoying the flight like he usually did. A small tear dropped down her face as the school came into view.

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Well, I could have done more, but this is a good length, and a good place to stop. If I had gone further, I would have had a lot more problems stopping. So I'm still guessing 3-5 chapters. I hope you liked it! Now Review! I need to know what you think of this one.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello again! I know I just put the first one up, but I've got more already written out, so I'll just put it up. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own a lot of things. Like Danny Phantom, or Microsoft, or the college, or the song You're Just Too Good To Be True. But I do own the wonderfully beautiful "gee-tar" and Andy and Ryan and the band, I think. And the story idea itself. Yes. Ok, so I don't actually have a guitar that looks like Danny's, nor do I play. But it does look really cool! I'll try and draw it and post it somewhere for ya. Just remind me, or I'll forget.

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They landed just outside the school behind one of the dumpsters. As soon as Danny changed back, Sam stalked off into the school. _What did I do this time? _he wondered. _She wasn't mad when we left, was she? Did she figure it out? _Danny shook his head and started walking into the school. _No, she couldn't have. She'd be happy—right? What if she did find out and she's mad! _He paused at the door and sighed, running his hand through his jet black hair. _I'll just have to try. There's nothing else I can do but try. _

Pushing open the door, he walked into the school. Down the hall he could hear the band warming up, Ryan loudly banging on his drums, Andy tuning his bass guitar and Sam singing along with her warm-up tape. He smiled at the familiar sound and walked into the gym. Sam was in the far corner, clearly ignoring everyone around her. Andy looked up and waved at Danny. He picked up a black guitar next to him and rushed over to where Danny was standing.

"Hey, Danny! Here's your guitar. What's up with Sam? She hasn't said a word since she stalked in here."

Danny took the guitar from Andy and sighed. "Thanks. I don't know what's wrong with her, I think I might have said something on the way over."

Andy gave him a reassuring smile and slapped him on the back. Danny slipped his guitar strap around his neck and they started walking over towards the stage.

"Ah, don't worry about it. She'll probably be over it in a couple days."

Danny turned to him and gave him a heartfelt smile. "Yeah, you're probably right. I just hope she's not mad during the reunion."

Grinning, Andy turned to face his friend. "That's the spirit! So, when are you gonna pop the big Q? It's been 11 years, ya know."

His smile widened at the familiar question. Andy and Ryan were always bugging him and asking him when he was going to ask the "Big Q", but he always shook it off, saying he would when the time was right.

"Soon, Andy. Very soon."

Andy jerked to a halt beside Danny, giving him a shocked stare.

"Did you just say what I think you just said?" Danny nodded, which evoked a very excited response from his bass guitarist.

"Oh my gosh! What is this world coming to? RYAN! GET OVER HERE! YOU'LL NEVER BELIEVE THIS!" Andy jumped up and down, waving his arms in the air to get Ryan's attention. Unfortunately, he also caught Sam's.

"Andy!" Danny hissed. "Keep it down! No one can tell Sam about this or you'll ruin everything!"

Andy was just about to make a retort when Ryan skidded to a halt in front of them.

"What happened? What am I not going to believe?"

Andy looked around at Sam, who was watching them suspiciously. He bent down and put his hand to Ryan's ear.

"Danny's going to pop the big Q!" he whispered.

"WHAT? Oh my gosh, that's insane! I can't believe you're going to do that!" he yelled.

"SHH!" Danny and Andy quickly shushed him.

"Keep it down!" Danny whispered. "She can't know until—"

"Who can't know what until when?" came a voice from behind them.

The three spun around and came face to face with Sam.

"Um, uh, my mom can't know about, uh, the—" Danny stuttered.

"The party we're gonna throw her! For being so great to us whenever we see her." Ryan piped.

Sam studied the three suspiciously, looking at each carefully. They all gave her cheesy smiles, hope that they would't be found out clearly written on their faces. She turned away and snorted.

"Fine, whatever. Let's just get this thing over with, I've got a date with a hot tub and I don't want to be late."

Danny punched both of them in the arms.

"Hey! What was that for?" they hissed.

"For almost giving it all away, that's what! You guys really need to be more careful."

They grinned sheepishly at their leader. "Sorry. It's just that we figured you guys would be dating until you were like 80." Andy said. "I never expected you to actually say you were going to ask her."

Rolling his eyes, Danny turned away and headed towards the stage where Sam was setting up.

"Come on, you air heads." she called. "Let's get started already!"

He climbed onto the stage and set his guitar onto it's stand. Stopping for a moment, he studied the neon green flames that were painted on the face. They started as a steady stream on the fingerboard and branched out to surround the entire guitar at the base. He'd gotten it for Christmas 6 years ago as a present from Sam. She'd been teasing him about it the whole week.

(flashback)

"_Hey Danny! Guess what!" Sam ran up to her boyfriend and gave him a big hug. _

"_Hey Sam! What do you want me to guess?"_

"_I got you the greatest Christmas present ever, and you're going to have to wait a whole week to get it!" she taunted, dancing around him in circles. . _

_Danny started chasing her around the room. "Tell me what it is or I'll overshadow you and make you tell!" he said. Sam just laughed at him and kept running. Danny put on an extra burst of speed and tackled her onto the couch. _

"_Tell me! Or at least stop teasing me about it!" _

_Sam giggled and started tickling him. "Never, Inviso-bill! I'll never tell!"_

Danny smiled down at his guitar. They had been so happy back then. Why was Sam so mad at him lately? He was pulled from his thoughts by Ryan.

"Hey, Danny! You gonna help us or just stand around with a goofy grin on your face all day?"

Surprised, he turned around and saw that they had finished setting up. "So what do you want me to do?" he asked. "Everything looks done to me."

Ryan stroked his chin ponderously. "Hmm, I don't know. How about pickin' up that gee-tar of your'n and playin us a good ol' knee-slappin' tune?"

Danny laughed at his friend's antics and picked up his "gee-tar." He walked over to his mike next to Sam, who was blatantly ignoring him, pretending to study the music in front of her. Sighing, he nodded to Ryan to start them off.

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Danny, Andy, and Ryan were sitting on the stage, discussing their plans for the reunion concert. The practice had gone well, since everyone already knew the song pretty well. Sam had stormed off as soon as practice was done, not even staying to help clean up, saying she wanted to get back to the hotel and spend some time with Valerie before the concert on Saturday.

"Ok, so the new song will be about halfway through the concert, at the end of our second time up." Danny said.

Andy looked up at him, confusion written on his face. "But why put that tone last? Shouldn't we do it in the middle of the second session so that they don't catch as many mistakes?" he asked.

"Yeah, people always remember the first and last songs the best." Ryan added.

Danny smiled at them. "True, but we want Sam to be able to sing for the rest of the songs, right?" he asked.

Both of his friends looked at him curiously. "What do you mean?" Andy asked. "Are you going to kill her or something?" He snorted with laughter at the thought, but stopped as Ryan hit him upside the head.

"Dork. Let him tell us."

"Thanks Ryan. Actually, you know that part where we sing 'You're just too good to be true" the second time?" he asked. "And how the harmony part Sam sings just doesn't quite fit in?" Ryan and Andy nodded, waiting for him to continue. "Well, that's cuz she's not going to be singing there."

Both of them just stared at him, their faces clouded with confusion.

"But you told her she was singing there, and you wrote the part out and everything! What do you mean she won't be singing there?" Andy asked.

"Because I think she'll be too shocked to sing." he said. He looked at their faces, but they still weren't picking up on any of his hints.

"Cuz-I'm-gonna-propose-during-the-break-ok?" he blurted. Their faces lit up with understanding.

"Dude, that's awesome!" Ryan exclaimed. "Using her favorite song to propose, genius! How'd you come up with an idea like that?"

Danny sheepishly smiled at them. "Actually, Tucker came up with it. We were sitting in the room listening to the radio and the song came on. We'd been trying to figure out ways for me to propose to her, and the idea just popped into his head."

Ryan and Andy gave each other high-fives and started dancing exaggeratedly with each other, singing.

"You're just too good to be truuuueee!

Can't take my eyes off of yooouuu!

You'd be like heave to tooouuuch!

I wanna hold you so muuuuch!'

Danny laughed the sight if his best friends dramatically slow dancing in front of him, cheek to cheek and holding the last note of each line, rocking wildly back and forth.

"Guys, guys, I get it! Hahahaha! Stop it already! Someone's going to see you!"

Neither of them listened to Danny's protests, they just kept singing and dancing (well, more like yelling).

"I love you baby!

And if it's quite alright,

I need you baby!

To warm the lonely nights!"

By now Danny was holding his sides, trying to keep himself from exploding. Andy was spinning Ryan in and out, pulling him into dips.

"Andy, Ryan, you're butchering it!" he yelled.

Just at that moment, Lancer decided to drop by the gym and see how the preparations were going. He stopped short as he saw his hired band dancing and singing horribly on the stage. He walked up to the stage and spoke up.

"Mr. Fenton, I hope this isn't part of your performance."

Andy and Ryan immediately stopped at the new voice, breaking apart and starting to clean up. Danny wiped tears from his eyes and turned to his old teacher.

"Sorry, Mr. Lancer, I can assure you Sam and I will be the only ones singing."

"You'd better make sure of that, Mr. Fenton. I will see you on Saturday at 8:00 am." He turned around walked out the door. As soon as he had closed the doors he heard them burst out into laughter. Sighing, he walked towards his office.

"They never really change." he said to himself.

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Sam rushed back towards the hotel, her mind racing with thoughts. _I really think he's going to do it. Andy and Ryan seemed so shocked and surprised, it couldn't have been anything good, _she thought. Looking ahead, she spotted the hotel and quickened her pace. _They were even giving me funny looks throughout practice. I bet they're not even going to say anything, either. Just like them to keep it a secret from me. It always feels like I'm left out of the loop when it comes to them and their secrets._ She sighed and entered the hotel. Valerie was sitting in the lobby, reading a magazine. She put it down and rushed over to Sam when she saw her walking over to the couches.

"Sam, what's wrong? You look horrible!" she exclaimed.

"Well, it's just that, well, I'll tell you later. Let's just hit that hot tub. I need a good soak after everything I've been through today.

Valerie looked like she was about to protest and make Sam tell her right there, but she thought better of it and clasped Sam's hand. "Alright, I won't push it. But you'll feel better if you just let it out."

She led Sam towards the waiting elevator. Sam smiled halfheartedly at her friend's back as the doors opened. _The only thing that could cheer me up right now would be for d to stay with me forever and never even think about that shallow _thing_ again._

They reached the room and headed off to change into their suits. Tucker was working on his computer, still sacked out on the couch. He waved at them as they came in without looking up. Sam grabbed her black and purple suit from her bag and went into the bathroom. She looked at her reflection and saw a dreary face with streaked make-up and ratted hair._ Wow, Valerie was right, I do look horrible._

Sighing, she donned her suit and started cleaning her face and straightening her hair. Giving her reflection one last glance, she grabbed a towel and stepped out of the bathroom. Valerie was already dressed and waiting for her by the door.

"Come on, we've got a date with a hot tub, and I don't want to be late!" she said. Tucker looked up at her incredulously.

"What! Going on a date without me? You must be joking! I need to protect you from all of those guys who might try to steal you from me!" he exclaimed. Valerie threw the TV guide at him.

"You're going to stay right where you are, sir, and work on that technology report of yours. This is a girls only outing, and we don't need your protection."

Tucker let his face fall in mock disappointment.

"Oh, ok. Well, I guess I'll just sit here, and—" he broke off and covered his face with his hands, fake sobs wracking his body.

"Tucker, don't—" Valerie complained.

"Just go! Leave me here, all alone, with no one to comfort me in my time of need!" he 'sobbed.'

Valerie sighed and walked over to the couch. Leaning down, she uncovered his face and gave him a kiss.

"There, is that better?" she asked in a babying tone. Tucker leaned back on the couch with a sigh.

"Mmm, tasty! I still got it!" he said, putting his hands behind his head and plopping his feet up onto the coffee table. Valerie just rolled her eyes and walked back to the door.

"Come on, Sam, let's go before we get eaten alive." Sam laughed quietly and shut the door behind them. Following Valerie to the elevator, she let her mind wander. _Tucker and Valerie are so lucky to have each other. They're in love with eachother. I wonder if Danny really is planning on dumping me. Sure seems like it—all the secrecy and nervousness. He's been avoiding me like the plague, and even when we are together he seems like he doesn't want to be there. _She was pulled from her contemplations as the elevator stopped. Looking over at her friend, she noticed a determined look plastered to Valerie's face. She had clearly picked up on Sam's train of thought.

They hurried through the doors and threw their towels on a nearby chair. Sam sighed as she slipped into the steaming water. As soon as they were comfortably situated, Valerie turned to Sam.

"Alright, something's bothering you, and I'd bet just about anything it's Danny. Spill."

Sam toyed with denying it, but discarded the idea, knowing Valerie wouldn't let her get away with it.

"Ok, well you remember what I was telling you earlier? About how he's been so nervous and evasive lately?" she asked. Valerie frowned at her.

"I thought you said you wouldn't jump to any conclusions about this until you knew exactly what was bugging him."

"Well, I was going to, but I'm positive I'm right! Especially after today's practice. When we got there, Danny told something to Andy and Ryan, and they were utterly shocked! I could see the disbelief on their faces, and they didn't seem too happy about it."

"Sam, it probably wasn't even about you. They might have just been mad that Danny put in another song without asking them first."

Sam exhaled in frustration. "But it _was_ about me! When I walked up to them to find out if we were going to start, I heard Danny say 'She can't know until—". I just know it was me they were talking about. And Andy and Ryan kept giving me weird looks throughout the practice. I-I think it's over, Val. It can't be anything good."

Valerie still looked skeptical. "How do you know the 'she' wasn't someone else? Like Kerri? Or Elyse?"

Sam shook her head and looked up at the ceiling. "Because when I asked him who couldn't know what until when, they gave me this lame excuse that Danny's mom couldn't know about some party yet. If they had been talking about that, I would have already known about it."

Valerie clasped Sam's hands in hers. "Look at me, Sam. It's two days before the reunion. Danny's not going to break up with you before then, and I doubt he will at all."

Sam started to object, but Valerie cut her off.

"I'll admit it's suspicious, but there's a lot of reasons. Just enjoy the next few days, and wait to see what happens. Please?"

Sighing, Sam realized her friend was right. Well, partly.

"Alright, I'll try. But I still feel like something's going to happen, and it doesn't look too good."

Smiling, Valerie leaned back against the tub.

"Good. Now let's get some well-deserved relaxation in before dinner."

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Oh, Kerri and Elyse are Andy and Ryan's girlfriends, respectively. Yes. And that's the last of the pre-written part. From here on out it's gonna be shaky. But I'll try to get it out soon! And now I get to go wash my car. GRR! Stupid dirt roads…

But I hoped you still liked it! I tried to put a bit of humor in it, cuz Ryan and Andy are just funny guys. R&R, please:D :P

The Sleep Warrior


	3. Chapter 3

I'm baaaack! I decided I just had to sit my butt down and type this darn thing, even if I haven't gotten it pre-written yet. Anyway, you guys all rock! Sure it doesn't have as many reviews as The Box Ghost's Revenge, but that's to be expected. Thanks for all of your support, you guys are awesome! I'm thinking one more chapter after this one, and then it'll be done, and I'll move on to my next story. I'm not sure which one I'm going to do next, though, so it could be a bit of a wait in-between them. So I'll just finish up The Box Ghost's Revenge then start a new one. Enough of my random rambling. On with the story! WOOT! Oh, and one more thing, which I'll remind you of at the bottom. I NEEEEED A BETA! Guidelines are below.

Disclaimer: I don't own a lot of things. Like Danny Phantom, or Microsoft, or the college, or the song You're Just Too Good To Be True. But I do own the wonderfully beautiful "gee-tar" and Andy and Ryan and the band Phantom Chasers, I think. And the story idea itself. Yes. Ok, so I don't actually have a guitar that looks like Danny's, nor do I play. But it does look really cool! I'll try and draw it and post it somewhere for ya. Just remind me, or I'll forget.

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The rest of the week flew by fairly quickly. The Phantom Chasers practiced every afternoon, and the rest of their time was spent showing Andy and Ryan all of the gang's favorite haunts. Danny and Tucker spent a lot of time off to the side, whispering to each other and acting even more suspiciously than they had been, much to Sam's dismay. She had to keep reminding herself of her promise to Valerie, but as the week progressed she found it harder and harder to keep an open mind.

Saturday finally came, and everyone was getting ready to head down to the school to set up for the performance. Sam had already packed everything she would need to change after their last-minute practice, and was sitting next to Valerie on the couch, watching amusedly as the boys scrambled to find everything they would need.

"Valerie! Tucker yelled. "Where are my shoes? I can't find them anywhere!"

Sam smirked as Valerie rolled her eyes. "On the top of the suitcase where you left them!" she replied. Sam's smirk softened into a fond smile, remembering all of those cartoons they used to watch as kids with the corny chase scenes in them, the characters running from door to door, but never running out of the one they'd just run into. Danny ran out of one of the rooms and breathlessly skidded to a halt in front of the couch.

"Sam, have you seen my tie around anywhere?" he gasped. Sam pointed off to her left where a black tie was carelessly draped over the back of a padded chair. Danny rushed over to it and threw a hasty thanks over his shoulder as he disappeared into another room, looking for yet another part of his suit.

"They really haven't changed a bit, have they?" Valerie asked with a smile. "I don't think they've ever been on time for anything in their lives. Well, except for the wedding."

Sam smiled, remembering Danny's list of tardies and absences from high school. "They may have been on time to a few classes, but Danny was definitely the worst. Sometimes I'm amazed he even was allowed to graduate."

Laughing, Valerie settled back onto the couch. "Lancer was always out to get him. The only reason he really made it was because of our help and persuasion."

"Yeah, and it was a lot easier on him once you found out he wasn't out to kill the world. When you saw him transform, I thought you were going to explode with emotions. I couldn't tell if you were mad or confused or shocked."

"I think it was a bit of all three." Valerie said with a grimace. She'd felt really bad after learning his true identity, and had kept apologizing profusely for weeks afterwards until he had to threaten her with his powers to get her to stop.

By then the boys were about done scrambling about, and were shoving the last few things they would need into their duffels. The girls reluctantly left the comfort of the couch and their memories to join them at the door.

"Are you guys ready?" Sam asked. They slung their bags onto their backs and nodded, winking at each other when they though Sam wasn't looking. _I just hope Valerie's right about this. _

Without warning, the boys bolted out of the room and down the hall towards the elevator. Tucker threw a challenge out over his shoulder. "Catch us if you can, slowpokes!"

Just as he had finished his challenge, his bag slipped off of his shoulder and tumbled him to the ground and into the elevator door. He had such a shocked and befuddled expression on his face that Valerie and Sam started laughing uncontrollably. Danny trotted over to where Tucker had landed and leaned over to help him up, but almost joined him on the floor when he tripped over Tucker's dropped baggage. This didn't help the girls' situation any, as their laughter increased tenfold.

After a few minutes they straightened themselves out and headed into the waiting elevator. They reached the ground floor and were almost to the door when Danny suddenly started to panic.

"Tucker, where is it! Where'd it go! Did you take it? I-I know I put it in my shirt pocket before we left!"

Sam and Valerie exchanged confused looks, neither having any idea what he was talking about, but Tucker's face paled.

"Are you sure you don't have it?" he asked anxiously.

"Yes!" came the strangled reply. "I wouldn't forget something as important as that!"

They both dropped to their knees and started searching through Danny's bag as the girls stood off to the side, still clueless as to what was going on. Suddenly, Tucker stopped his frantic search.

"The hall! Danny, I bet it's in the hall upstairs! When you tripped over my bag, I thought I saw something fly past my face. I bet it was the r—I mean the thing we're looking for."

Jumping to his feet, Danny raced back towards the elevator. "Be right back!" he called over his shoulder.

Tucker started shoving Danny's things back into his bag, anxiety written all over his face.

"What was that all about?" Sam asked. Tucker froze, his eyes widening in shock.

"Um, he dropped his, uh, lucky guitar pick!"

Sam's brow wrinkled in confusion. "But he doesn't use a pick, why would he need a lucky pick?"

Gulping, Tucker averted his shifty eyes.

"Um, well he, uh, keeps it in his pocket! For good luck!"

Sam shot him a piercing look, but he wasn't slipping anything up. "Hmm, I've never seen him with a pick before. I'll have to ask him about it." She turned towards the elevator to make the appearance of waiting for Danny, but really kept an eye on Tucker, hoping he would slip up and give her some clue as to what they were up to. He finished shoving Danny's clothes back into the bag and stood back up, trying to act casual.

After a few minutes, Danny walked out of the elevator with a he grin on his face, the lost 'pick' apparently found. Before she could ask him anything, Tucker rushed up to his side and stopped him.

"Hey, Danny, did you find your _lucky guitar pick?_" he asked, placing emphasis on the 'lucky guitar pick' part. A cloud of confusion lowered itself over Danny's face.

"What lu—" he stopped as he saw the prodding look on his friend's face. "Oh, yeah, my pick. I found it right where you said it would be."

Sam shook her head in disgust. "Ugh, let's just go. We're late enough as it is." She spun around and stalked out of the hotel, not waiting for the boys to collect their things. Valerie caught up with her just outside the door.

"Sam, I know you're mad at them, and that they're being immature, but you could have at least waited."

Not replying, Sam continued her forced march towards the school. She heard Valerie sigh and drop back to wait for the boys. _I wish they'd just out and tell me. I'm so sick of being left out of their little secret, and it's obviously got something to do with me. Danny's been either avoiding me or ignoring me, and Tucker's no better. Valerie better not be in this with them or I swear she won't live to see the next reunion. Forget what she said about keeping an open mind—I've done it for the past three days and it's gotten me nothing but frustration. _

With that thought to spur her on, she sped up her pace.

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Danny solemnly grabbed his bag off of the tiled floor and followed his fuming girlfriend out of the building. He hadn't wanted to make her mad, but there was no way he would have been able to tell her the truth. He trudged towards the school, letting Tucker and Valerie walk ahead of him, ignoring Tucker's attempts to apologize.

Sighing, he hitched his bag higher on his shoulder. _Sam's so mad at me right now I wouldn't be surprised if she dumped me before we even got to the school. _He raised his head to look at her retreating figure, but she was already so far ahead that he could only make out a little black dot in the distance. _Great, now she'll be even angrier with me. She'll think I purposely lagged behind. If only I could just tell her what's going on, we wouldn't be having this problem. Tucker told me that Valerie's been trying to figure out what we're up to, and that she's been telling him to tell me to spit it out already. Sam's been tearing herself up inside thinking I don't care about her anymore. _He looked around to make sure no one was looking and ducked behind a dumpster, changing into his ghost form before speeding off towards the school. _At least now I won't be too far behind them. Maybe I can find something for Sam to make it up to her. _Slightly altering his course, he took off towards the park, where he knew some of Sam's favorite flowers grew. He dipped down onto the lilac-covered hill and plucked a small, perfectly formed flower from a nearby bush, remembering to scatter the pollen so new bushes could sprout up. The field had started out with only a few bushes, but he had started spreading the pollen around in his junior year after the first time Sam had snapped at him for removing the life of new flowers from the hill. She had dragged him back and shown him how to spread it around so that the new bushes would have a better chance of growing. He smiled at the memory and carefully tucked the small flower into his bag so it wouldn't get crushed during the flight.

Landing behind the dumpster, he changed back and raced inside, a huge grin plastered onto his face. He entered the gym to find that he'd beaten Tucker and Valerie, but Sam was already there, angrily stomping around and directing the set-up.

"Andy! Make sure you get that mike hooked up right!" he meekly nodded and checked the wires, not even bothering to retort with some smart remark. _Sam must be really mad if Andy's not even saying anything. Man, this is worse than I thought. _

He carefully placed his bag down onto the stage and started to help Andy with the wires. Sam's frown lightened a bit, and she walked off of the stage to where Lancer was directing the decorators. Once she was out of ear-shot, Andy scooted up to him and pretended to rummage through one of the boxes.

"What did you do to make her so mad! I don't think I've ever seen her like this before."

"I haven't told her the reason I've been so jumpy and nervous lately, and she thinks it means I'm going to break up with her. I can't very well tell her the truth, cuz that would spoil it all." Andy whistled in disbelief, but Danny ignored him.

"Plus, Tucker tripped in the hall earlier, and when I bent down to help him up I tripped too and the ring flew out of my shirt pocket."

"Did she see it?" Andy asked.

Danny glanced over at Sam, who was still talking with their former teacher.

"No, but when I got downstairs I realized it was gone, so I went back up to find it. While I was gone, Tucker made up some crackpot story about me going to look for my lucky guitar pick. I don't even use a pick, and Sam knows it! So she stalked off in a big huff and practically ran here."

Andy grimaced, wincing in sympathy. "Ooh, man I feel sorry for you. Are you sure you want to do this tonight instead of waiting until she cools off a bit? You could fry an egg on her head right now."

Danny bit his lip in hesitation, trying to concentrate on the microphone he had in his hand.

"I'm sure. I need to do this before it's too late. If I don't…" he drifted off as he stared at Sam's back. She was arguing with Lancer about something, her angry gestures suggesting she wasn't happy with the stage.

_I hope she's not too mad at me. If she says no…I don't even want to think about that._ He was pulled from his thoughts as a hand fell onto his shoulder. Turning around, he saw his friend's concerned face.

"Well, good luck. Don't do anything to make her even more angry with you, or you won't just be half of a ghost anymore."

Danny smiled his thanks and bent down to pick up a couple of empty boxes.

"Let's get this stuff cleaned up so we don't do just that. By the way, where's Ryan? I haven't seen him since yesterday, he should be here by now."

Andy shrugged as he lifted a couple boxes. "He snuck off as soon as he saw you walk in the door. I thin he said something about going to check on the lights."

Laughing softly, Danny headed towards the curtains at the back of the stage. "Well we'd better go see if he needs any help. Shall we?" he asked, bowing Andy ahead of him.

"We shall, dear old chap, we shall indeed."

Andy glided off towards the backstage area, his head tilted arrogantly, and a slight swagger introduced itself into his walk. Laughing, Danny picked up a couple of boxes and followed his friend, his problems momentarily forgotten.

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"But _pink_? Why pink! Couldn't you have picked anything else? Like lilacs? Why'd you have to pick carnations? AND PINK!" Sam was beyond mad—she was furious. First Danny and his, well, weirdness, and now PINK? What was Lancer thinking?

Letting loose an exasperated sigh, Lancer rounded on his former student. "Miss Manson, I'm sure it won't kill you to stand next to a few flowers, no matter what color they may be. I will tolerate no more out of you on this subject. Now, I'm sure there are things you need to do to prepare for this afternoon's reunion." He turned his back to her and ignored all further protests.

Thoroughly deprived of her anger vent, Sam swirled around to release it on the boys, but her burning eyes were met with a perfectly set-up, yet empty stage. She was about to go hunt them down when Tucker and Valerie burst through the gym doors, armed with a few shopping bags.

"See? I told you we beat him here." Valerie exclaimed. Tucker peered around, relief flooding over his face once he had scanned the gym. They saw Sam and headed over to the stage where she was steamily searching through her bag.

"Hey, Sam!" Tucker said nervously as he neared her. "Danny should be here soon, he—"

"He's already here, Tuck. I saw him come in about 15 minutes ago."

Tucker's face fell. "Darn it! I told you we shouldn't have stopped in those shops!"

Pouting, Valerie turned her starry eyes to her husband. "But I just _had_ to have that bracelet! My outfit wouldn't be complete without it! "

He snorted in reply, shaking his head. "Yeah, that and everything else you saw that you just _had_ to have. I'm gonna go find Danny." Rolling his eyes, he hopped onto the stage and headed towards the back.

"So, Sam, how are you feeling?" Valerie cautiously asked.

"I feel like a tea kettle that's boiling over." she heatedly replied. Glancing up at the clock, she gasped when she saw the hands.

"2:30 already! Geez, could you guys have taken any longer! We'd better go change, we're already short on time, and the reunion starts in an hour and a half!" she bent down and scooped up her bag, speeding off towards the bathrooms with Valerie following closely behind.

They rushed into the bathrooms and quickly occupied the largest stall. Sam pulled out her slim, black dress and held it up for inspection. She smiled, swirling it around a bit to better catch the light on the dark purple sequins that adorned the bottom half of the dress and faded away into the silky black material that made up the dress. It had one-inch shoulder straps, and a draped neckline, as well as a small train that flowed off of the back of the dress. Her anger slowly melted away at the sight, and she slipped into the dress.

"Sam, you look so beautiful!" she heard Valerie exclaim behind her.

"Thanks, Valerie." She zipped up the back of the dress and turned around.

"Wow! You don't look half bad yourself!" The light blue dress brought out her friend's dark complexion, accentuating the bright smile that was fixed on her face.

"Thanks, Sam. I was hoping it would turn out well. I really love it."

"Tucker's going to blow a fuse when he sees you." Her smile faded as she realized that she might not get the same reaction for her dress. _I hope Danny likes it. No, I hope Danny likes _meAs if she had read Sam's thoughts, Valerie placed her hand on her friend's shoulder.

"He's going to love it, Sam. He won't think of leaving you side for even a second once he sees you. He'd be crazy if he did."

Sighing, Sam picked up her hair pins and brush and walked out of the stall and towards the sinks.

"I hope you're right, Val. I hope you're right."

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Yeah, it's shorter than the others, but it took a loooong time to write, so just be glad you got it today. I have such a short attention span, it's sad. HOPEFULLY chapter 4 will be up in 2 weeks, cuz next weekend Chapter 11 of The Box Ghost's Revenge will be up. I'll alternate between them for the next couple weeks. Wait, Chapter 4 is the last one. Yes. Hope you enjoyed it!

Ok all, I REALLY need a beta, someone who's not afraid to totally tear me apart with criticism on my writing and who's really good. I know you're out there, and I need your help. But I've got some strict guidelines, which I'm afraid might scare some great betas away. But if you're really interested and can't meet some of the guidelines, tell me and I'll still consider you. Ok, here they are:

1) It would be VERY helpful if you could get the chapter back to me within a day or two, as it takes me so long to write them in the first place.

2) Must be willing to tear my work apart, edit whatever needs it, ask any questions you might have, and tell me what's BS and what rocks for my story. Be brutal, be honest.

3) Have to love Danny Phantom and be very familiar with the show. If you're not, how will you understand what's going on?

4) Lastly, you gotta want the job and like it. No spamming me with one liners, like "I'll do it." Or whatever. Tell me why I should pick you.

This is REALLY important to me, even more important than the AP tests at the end of the year. And if you don't know what those are, you can get college credit in high school if you do well on them, and they're super expensive and super important. But a beta is more important to me, which is saying a lot. So PLEASE! I really need your help on this.

TSW


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four! WOOT! Yeah, I know you're all excited, and so am I! WOO HOO! I love this chapter! I want to thank everyone who reviewed for this, thanks for sticking with me:D :P Now, on to Chapter four!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own a lot of things. Like Danny Phantom, or Microsoft, or the college, or the song You're Just Too Good To Be True. But I do own the wonderfully beautiful "gee-tar" and Andy and Ryan and the band Phantom Chasers, I think. And the story idea itself. Yes. Ok, so I don't actually have a guitar that looks like Danny's, nor do I play. But it does look really cool! I'll try and draw it and post it somewhere for ya. Just remind me, or I'll forget.

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Tucker wandered around backstage, admiring the work the band had done setting up the equipment. He had stopped to fix some loose wires, but jumped when a hand dropped onto his shoulder.

"Hey, you finally made it! What took you so long? Danny got here half-an-hour ago." A familiar voice said. Tucker looked back to see a green-eyed, brown-haired face.

"Hey, Ryan. Valerie 'needed' to get a bracelet she saw in a store and it kinda escalated from there."

Chuckling, Ryan shook his head. "Girls. They're all so picky. They're either in love with you or ready to kill you. Or both."

Tucker smiled sadly. "Yeah, poor guy. It's like he's got a dragon on a leash right now. She hasn't done anything--drastic, has she?"

"You know, she didn't say anything to him when he walked in. She just gave him an angry look and stalked off to argue with Lancer. Fortunately I got out of there when I saw Danny come in—she'd been browbeating us left and right before he came, but when she saw him, she just…stopped. I've never seen her like that before." Frowning, Ryan turned and started climbing the small ladder that led to the lighting area.

"Come on, Tucker. They're both up here."

Tucker looked up the narrow ladder and shuddered.

"You'd think flying with a half-ghost would have cured me of my fear of heights," he muttered. Sighing softly, he strapped his precious laptop to his back and started up to where Danny and Andy were fiddling with the lights.

"No, it doesn't! The red wire goes into this one!"

"Oh, what do you know? The red one goes over here."

Tucker popped his head up over the edge of the small platform and flashed a cheesy smile at the quarrelsome boys.

"Did I hear someone call for help?" he asked. Danny glanced up at him, his glowing green eyes glaring out from beneath his raven black hair.

"Not funny, Tucker," he growled. Ignoring the venomous look he was receiving, Tucker finished clambering up onto the platform, wincing at the mess of wires and connections tangled around their feet. Ryan stood off to the side, shaking his head.

"You two are hopeless. Get over here so Tucker can hook up the lights without you two squabbling over him like a couple of two-year olds."

Exchanging guilty glances they scrambled over beside Ryan, accidentally unplugging a couple of wires. Unfortunately, one of those happened to lead to the main lights for the gym and bathrooms.

"DANNY!"

Gulping, the four boys all scrambled to plug the cord back in, yelling apologies over their shoulders towards where the irate scream had come from.

"At least she and Valerie are getting changed right now, or we'd be in big trouble."

Tucker's quiet comment left them all silent, thankful that their fears of an enraged Sam hunting them down wouldn't become a reality any time soon.

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After a few minutes of silence in front of the mirrors, Valerie turned to Sam.

"Did you yell at him when he came in?" she asked. Shocked at the unexpected question, Sam's hand slipped from the brush and crashed into the sink.

"Ouch!" She started shaking her hand, trying to stop the throbbing.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Sam! Are you all right? I didn't mean to scare you like that."

"No, it's okay, Val. Really, I'm fine. I-I'm just jittery, that's all." A sympathetic hand fell on her shoulder.

"Sam, it's going to be fine! How many times do I have to tell you this?"

She looked up at her friend's concerned face reflected in the mirror. "I know, I know. I just can't shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen."

"But you don't know what it's going on in Danny's head—he could do something completely awesome. I want you to forget about it. Now."

Sam sighed and rolled her eyes. When Valerie got determined, nothing could stop her.

"Oh all right. If you insist." She reached for her purple lipstick but dropped it when her hand throbbed in pain.

"Stupid sink." she muttered. Valerie grabbed the lipstick and turned Sam toward her.

"Here, let me do it. You'll never finish in time at the rate you're going."

Sighing deeply, Sam rolled her eyes again and decided to let her friend help her. Valerie was just about to apply the lipstick when the lights cut out with a click.

"DANNY!" she screamed as she felt the stick hit her nose. A few muffled apologies drifted through the door, followed closely by the return of the lights. She started to run out of the bathroom to confront the troublemakers, but Valerie caught her arm.

"Sam!" she cried, sighing exasperatedly. "I feel like your babysitter! Now get back here and sit down on the sink."

Struggling against Valerie's death grip, Sam growled, "Val, let me go! I don't know how many times I've told them to be careful when they're setting up the lights!"

"Sam, that's enough!" Valerie barked. Yanking her back towards the sink, she spun Sam around. "You don't want to go out there with a purple nose, do you?" She sighed and shook her head at her friend's stubbornness.

"Come on; let's get this cleaned up before someone decides to call you Rudolph." Sam shot her deadly glare but let her wipe the stray lipstick from her nose.

The rest of their preparations went fairly quickly; they were soon putting their supplies back into their bags and headed back out to the gym. Sam gasped when she saw the beautiful decorations—they really had done a great job with them, even if the flowers were pink. The crepe paper was gracefully and artfully draped over the lights and hoops, and the red and white balloons were bunched together on the tables, swaying lightly. A few people had already arrived and were clumped around the refreshments table, admiring the decorations just as Sam was now.

Quickly scanning the room, Sam smiled when she didn't see any sign of Paulina, but it quickly faded when she saw the boys huddled near the back of the stage.

What are they up to now? She thought. Andy was gesturing wildly, and Danny kept shaking his head. Tucker nervously glanced up and looked around the room. His eyes fell on Sam and Valerie and he gasped, quickly poking the others and pointing in the girls' general direction. Her eyes narrowed at their suspicious behavior and she glanced at Valerie, who muttered "Boys will be boys" before sighing.

Sam shot her a questioning glance, but didn't ask what she meant by the comment. She looked back at the boys and saw them covertly pushing Danny in her direction while he tried to brush them off.

He looks so handsome in that suit, even if he didn't bother to comb out his hair. _I'm going to just enjoy tonight—I have to get these doubts out of my head._

The boys stumbled to a halt in front of them, awkwardly looking at them and prodding each other's shoulders.

"Hey, Sam. You look gorgeous." Danny smiled shyly at her and took her hand, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. She couldn't help but smile at his bashfulness.

"Thanks." she whispered. "You look great too." His smile grew more confident and he started to walk towards the refreshment table, where she could see Andy and Ryan gaping at the food after they'd "delivered" Danny to her.

"Come on, I think I saw some dark chocolate brownies over here." Sam didn't argue—she'd been a bit uncomfortable with Tucker and Valerie fawning all over each other right next to her.

Andy and Ryan had gotten over their awe at the wide selection of delectables and were grabbing everything in sight.

"Hey, Danny!" Ryan called. "You two should try these brownies—they're delicious!" Andy mumbled something around his mouthful of cookies, spraying crumbs everywhere.

"Ewww, Andy! Could you watch where you're aiming? What would Kerri say if she saw you?" Sam complained.

Smiling as he swallowed, Andy pointed towards the table. "Why, she would want to know where I got such wonderful cookies!"

"Hey, Fenton! Is that you?" a familiar grating voice called out.

Danny groaned in disgust. "Darn it! Why can't Dash ever just leave me alone?" Sam squeezed his hand and smiled reassuringly.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you could throw him flat with the blink of an eye. And you've got Andy and Ryan to distract him if you need."

"Yeah, we'll beat him up for you if you want," Andy joked.

Danny rolled his eyes. "All you two would need to do is start singing. You're almost as bad as Tucker." He winced as a heavy hand fell on his shoulder and spun him, and consequently Sam, around. _Wow, he really let himself go. He's got almost as big of a belly as Mr. Lancer!_

Dash's eyes widened when he saw her, but they quickly lowered into a satisfied smirk.

"Hah, I always knew you two lovebirds would end up together. Where's Foley? I bet he's still a techno-geek." Danny growled menacingly, his eyes flashing a bright green.

"Danny!" Sam hissed. _He'd better watch himself or he'll expose himself! How many times have I told him to keep his temper in check!_

"What do you want, Dash? Come over to re-live the 'good old days' and shove me into a locker again?" (lol!)

Seemingly startled, Dash hung his head.

"Actually, I want to apologize. I was-I was just always jealous of you. You know, in high school."

Sam's eyes widened in shock, but she kept her tongue in check and let Danny handle it.

"Jealous? Why would anyone be jealous of me?"

"Who wouldn't be?" Dash asked. His blue eyes locked onto Danny's, sincerity and honesty radiating from his face. "You had close friends, a sister and parents who actually cared about you and loved you, and your life wasn't front page news. You had no image to keep up—no stress of hiding secrets from the rest of the world."

Sam snorted softly at Dash's last comment. He raised an eyebrow at her, but continued.

"I—I wished I could be like that. I was so hot headed in high school that I figured the only way to give you any trouble was to beat you up. I just want to apologize. For everything."

_Dash, jealous of Danny? Now that's something I never expected. I don't think even Jazz could have seen that one coming._

Danny just stared at his former enemy in shock, still trying to process what he'd just heard.

"Wow." he finally managed. "And all of that time I wanted to be one of the popular kids."

Dash looked up at him hopefully. "So, do you think we could put it behind us?"

"Already done, Dash." He stuck out his free hand, which was eagerly accepted by the former jock.

"Mr. Fenton, would you and your group please come up to the stage?" Mr. Lancer's voice cut in across the speakers. Sam looked over her shoulder and saw him impatiently waving them towards the stage.

"That's us." she said. "Come on, Danny, we still have to finish checking the mikes."

Dash looked at them curiously. "You guys are the band? Wow, I never would have expected that. Well, good luck. And thanks."

"No problem, Dash." Danny softly replied. They both turned away from Dash and headed towards the stage. Danny led Sam up the stairs to where Lancer, Andy and Ryan were waiting.

"Ah, there you are." Lancer said. "Now if you're done socializing, here's the program for the night. We'll start off with an introduction speech, and then…"

Quickly falling into her old habits, Sam let her mind drift away from Lancer's droning voice while still managing to look like she was paying attention. She'd already looked the program over and knew when they would be playing.

_Wow, I never expected Dash to apologize to Danny. I'd almost thought he was going to find a locker and try to see if Danny still fit. And Danny handled it a lot more maturely than he would have if Dash had tried to apologize 10 years ago. We've all changed so much; we're not quite the same people we were when we graduated. I just hope that doesn't mean we've grown out of each other. I can't imagine life without Danny—we've been together for so long._ She sighed heavily, not realizing she'd just interrupted the overweight teacher.

"Miss Manson, is something wrong?"

She jerked her head up from the program to find them all staring at her concernedly. Danny opened his mouth to ask her something, but she quickly cut him off.

"No, no, everything's fine. I was just thinking about something Valerie said earlier. I'm sorry if I interrupted." Lancer shook his head at her blushing face.

"Hmph. Well, you'll have all the time you want to think about that later. Do you all understand what you need to do?

They nodded their heads in conformation. "Good. There's only a few more minutes until the reunion officially starts—go ahead and take your places."

He stalked off the stage towards the main doors where people were coming in. The gym was filling up fairly quickly and Sam didn't have a chance to scan for Tucker and Valerie before a hand fell on her arm.

"Sam, are you okay? You looked pretty spacey back there." She turned her head towards the soft voice and was met by a pair of concerned blue eyes. Smiling softly, she took his hand in hers.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

Danny didn't look convinced, but just nodded his head and backed up to his stand. _Maybe I am being a hothead. He really was concerned for me—he wouldn't have been if he was about to break up with me. Right? I mean, it's not like he'd show that much concern if he was going to break up with me. I've just been too blind in my hatred for Paulina lately to see it._ She watched him as he gently picked up his guitar and strapped it around his shoulder. _I think Valerie was right—I don't have anything to worry about._ Humming softly, she ruffled through her music and smiled.

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Danny leaned down and carefully picked up his guitar, its bright green flames a shining contrast against the polished black background. He slipped the shoulder strap over his head and made sure it was secured before he plugged it in. Andy sidled up to his side.

"Hey, Danny, is everything okay with Sam? She's biting our heads off one minute and the next she looks like she's about to cry. And now she looks so happy she could burst! These mood swings of hers are really starting to scare me. You didn't—ya know, decide to make a kid, did you?"

Danny swung his head around in shock. "Andy! You know we'd never do that! At least not until we were married."

"Well, the way she's been acting, I thought, maybe—"

Danny shook his head. "Andy, you're strange. You know that, right?"

"That's what makes me sooo irresistible!" he said with a sly smile.

"Get into place, you big idiot." He pushed Andy towards the other side of the stage just as Lancer stepped up to Danny's mike.

"Can I have your attention please?" Lancer's heavy voice cut through the crowd's noise, and they instantly quieted down. _Old habits die hard._ He thought with a smile.

"I'd like to welcome you all, the Casper High class of 2009, to your 10-year high school reunion!" This announcement was met with polite applause.

"Tonight will be a night…" Danny once again found himself drifting off as Lancer droned on. _Wow, has it really been 10 years already? It seems like just a few months ago we were freshman starting school. We've all changed so much._ He spotted a few people he recognized in the crowd—Nathan, Mikey, Kwan, Star. He hadn't seen Paulina yet—which was a good thing. She'd made him feel really uncomfortable the other day when he and Tucker had run into her at the mall. She'd recognized him right away, and had almost immediately started flirting with Danny. _If she'd done that 13 years ago, I might have fallen for it, but not after I realized what a shallow idiot she really was. Strange how things can change in just 10 years. Even Sam's changed –but in a good way. Over the years, we've grown closer together then we've ever been._ He saw that Lancer was wrapping up his speech and focused back in on what the overweight and now completely bald teacher was saying.

"…hope you all have a wondeful time. And now, for your entertainment, let's all give a warm welcome to… the Phantom Chasers!"

The crowd erupted in thunderous applause, relief evident on many faces as Danny stepped up to the mike.

"Thank you, Mr. Lancer." he said as the crowd quieted down. "All right, Casper High, are you ready for some great music?"

Loud screams and applause erupted from the crowd and Danny smiled at their enthusiastic response.

"Wow, I'd have to say you guys are the most enthusiastic crowd we've ever played for."

A loud voice called out from the back. "Anything to get Lancer to stop talking!" Everyone erupted into laughter, ignoring the protests from the teacher.

"Ok, we're going to start off with a song we wrote called 'Beneath Your Smile'."

They launched into the song, and Danny soon forgot all of his worries. The crowd was enjoying the music, and many were out on the gym floor, dancing with their respective dates and spouses.

After about 15 minutes they cut off the last chord of 'You're the One' and Lancer climbed back onto the stage. Danny handed him the mike and stepped over next to Sam.

"You were awesome," he whispered, taking hold of her hand. Lancer was spouting about how much he'd seen them all change during the years and how glad he was to see them all again.

"Thanks" she whispered, squeezing his hand lightly. He looked into her excited eyes, noticing how the light shone into them and reflected his own flushed face. "You weren't too shabby yourself. I'm surprised they liked it, to be honest."

"Sam, anything's better than listening to Lancer drone on about who knows what."

He heard her give a soft laugh. "You haven't really changed, you know that?" He smiled at her and turned back to Lancer.

"…into the classrooms to see the new renovations. For once you'll be able to pick your own groups." Lancer paused at a few amused chortles. "If you have any questions please feel free to ask. Now go ahead and check the rooms out." The crowd started to disperse in different directions, only a few small groups deciding to linger in the gym.

Danny shrugged out of his guitar strap and carefully placed the instrument on its holder.

"Hey, Danny, how are you doing? Still nervous about later?"

Ryan flipped his drumsticks idly into the air, deftly catching them behind his back.

"Yeah, a bit. But Sam seems to be in a better mood than she was earlier, so I'm not quite as jittery as I was."

Ryan glanced at the clock. "Well, you've got a half hour 'till everyone gets back, and then another 15 until we get to the song. Just don't go throwing up before we get there."

"Oh, you're so hilarious, Ryan." Danny said sarcastically. An argument sprung up by the door and they both turned around to see what the commotion was all about.

"What do you mean we can't get in? Our boyfriends are in the band—we drove 3 hours just to be here for them! You have to let us in!" A tall blond-haired girl in a royal blue, strapless dress stood in front of the check-in table, arguing with the secretary. Another girl stood next to her silently, worriedly scanning the room. Her fitted, pale blue dress sparkled lightly as she turned, her reddish-brown hair falling onto her shoulder.

"Elyse! You made it!" Ryan called. He jumped down from the stage and rushed over to his girlfriend, Andy following closely behind. Ryan embraced the girl in the light blue dress, quickly kissing her blushed cheek.

"Hey, Kerri! You have to try these cookies, they're awesome!" Andy called out, grabbing a few cookies from a plate on the refreshment table. The tall blonde laughed and brushed past the confused secretary.

"Ooh, what kind are they?" She walked over to Andy, who had paused halfway between the table and his girlfriend, torn between the cookies or Kerri.

"Thr puhnut buttr uh chuclut chup!" he spluttered around a huge mouthful.

"Ooh, really? Let me try some!"

Sam slipped up behind Danny and took his hand.

"I guess Andy was right--she didn't even notice the crumbs he sprayed onto her dress."

Their very overweight former teacher approached the pair still standing on the stage.

"Mr. Fenton, what is going on here?"

Danny smiled innocently at him. "What do you mean, Mr. Lancer? Sam and I were just--"

"Not you!" he erupted. "Them! Who are those girls? They're disrupting the reunion!"

"Oh, Kerri and Elyse? They're Andy and Ryan's girlfriends; they help us out with the technical stuff on trips."

Lancer didn't look convinced. Leaning close, he whispered, "Then why weren't they here to help you set up earlier when you disconnected all of the lights?"

"They were in Colorado, Mr. Lancer," Sam coolly replied. "Their biology class went out there for a hiking trip in the Rockies, and they only just got back this morning." She sent him her sweetest smile.

"Well, make sure they don't cause any more trouble," he grumbled before turning away and stalking off of the stage. He shot the girls one last disapproving glance before disappearing through the gym doors.

"I'm glad Kerri and Elyse made it, those two were looking pretty glum earlier." Sam observed.

Danny smiled and slipped his arm around her waist. They were standing together and talking about the next segment when a grating voice called out from the doorway.

"Oh, Danny! Yoo hoo!"

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Sam narrowed her eyes in hatred as the other woman swayed onto the stage.

"Hi, Danny. You look _really _handsome tonight," Paulina crooned. Her silky light pink dress clung to her seductively, the neckline dropping dangerously low.

"Um, hi Paulina." Danny stuttered. Sam looked over at his face and glared at his blushing cheeks. She pulled her hand out of his and crossed her arms challengingly.

"What do you want, Paulina?" she sneered. _Dirty little slut, what does she think she's doing messing with my guy?_

Paulina scanned Sam with a measuring look, a disgusted look crossing her face.

"Ugh, it's the little Goth girl. What's so special about her?" Sam fumed at the comment, to angry to choke up an immediate reply. She was even more stunned when Danny did nothing to defend her. _That's it, she is so going down for this! _

She straightened her back and stood menacingly in front of the shorter girl. "At least I have a boyfriend. I'm not the one trouncing around wearing almost nothing trying to steal other people's guys."

Paulina huffed at the comment. "Yeah, right. It's obvious Danny doesn't like you. I mean, who could love a freak like you?"

Sam's blood boiled over. "Why you little--" She started to lunge at Paulina, but Danny grabbed her arm and held her back.

"Sam, calm down! You're better than her, just let it roll," he whispered to her. Sam stopped struggling against his grip in shock.

"Danny, what are you saying? You heard what she said. I--"

"Sam, it's no big deal. Just let it--" Sam exploded at his seeming uncaring nature.

"No big deal! She just called me a freak! Daniel Fenton, what has gotten into you lately?" Looking into his confused eyes, she gasped.

"I knew it." she whispered. "I was right." Spinning out of his grasp, she ran off of the stage, leaving a very smug Paulina and confused Danny behind her.

She pushed through the thickening crowd and into the bathrooms, where she rushed into the largest stall and slammed the door. Sliding down the wall, she let her head fall onto her knees, sobs wracking her frame. _The only time I didn't want to be right, I was. I just had to be right, didn't I! He and Paulina--it all makes sense. I knew she was going to be trouble. I always did. Danny's going to dump me for that shallow little--grr! What could he possibly see in her? I…_

Her thoughts were interrupted as a soft voice called for her.

"Sam? Are you ok? We saw you run in here." There was a slight pause as Valerie waited for an answer.

Sam? Where are you?" She saw their feet approach her hideout and the door swung open, revealing three concerned faces.

"Oh, Sam," Elyse whispered sadly as they rushed to her side.

"Poor baby, what happened? Valerie told us you two were having problems, but this is insane!" Kerri softly rubbed her back, coaxing Sam to choke out her story. As the events unfolded, Valerie's face hardened.

"I swear, Paulina's gone too far this time. I'm going to go find Tucker and tell him to pound some sense into Danny's thick skull."

"It's too late, Val. He's gone, don't you see it?" she hiccupped slightly as her friend knelt back down beside her. "This is what they were planning all week, I just know it. None of them looked too excited about it, and I think Andy was trying to talk him out of it earlier. That would explain everything." She sniffed loudly and reached for some toilet paper, wiping her eyes before continuing. "All of his nervousness, avoiding me, the jumpiness--it all fits." She burst out into tears again, letting her friends try to console her.

"Oh, Sam, I don't know. You could be right, but I just can't see Danny doing something like that. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for all of those things." Elyse took Sam's hand and rubbed her shaking back.

"Come on, Sam, you need to pull yourself together. You've still got another segment to do before you can leave." Kerri softly said, handing Sam more toilet paper.

"Perform? You can't expect me to get up there after what just happened! I--I couldn't. Not and sing that song. Any song but that one."

Valerie took hold of Sam's shoulders. "Sam, you will not let Paulina win! Go out there and do your best, make him see what he's going to miss if he goes through with it. Make him see what an idiot he'll be if he looses you." She pulled Sam to her feet and led her out of the large stall. "Let's get you cleaned up."

Not saying a word, Sam sullenly let her friends fix her smeared make-up and cover her blotchy red skin. When they were done she didn't look like she'd been crying, but she could still feel the tears threatening to spill out.

"There, you look great." Kerri said, appearing in the mirror behind Sam. "Now go out there and do your best."

Forcing a smile onto her face, Sam studied her reflection. _Well, it will have to do. I'll go out there and pretend nothing happened. No, I'll ignore him first. He deserves it, after what he just did. But I'll make sure he sees how stupid and clueless he's been before this night is through. _

Taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and entered the packed gym. She spotted Danny up on the stage with Andy and Ryan, but thankfully Paulina was nowhere to be seen.

"Ok, let's go."

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Danny sighed in relief as he saw Sam finally emerge from the bathroom looking no worse for the wear, Valerie, Kerri, and Elyse following closely behind.

Unfortunately, his relief soon turned to fear as she stalked up to the stage without so much as a glance in his direction.

Swallowing nervously, Danny approached the stand where Sam was angrily ruffling through her music.

"Um, Sam, I just—" She turned around and stalked to the back of the stage, not even giving him a glare._ Even a death blow would be more welcome than this darn silence!_

"Are you sure you want to do this tonight?" he heard Andy ask behind him.

Danny sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "If I don't do this now, I'll never get the courage to ask her again. It's now or never."

Andy shook his head and turned back towards his stand.

"I'll say something nice about you at your funeral."

Rolling his eyes, Danny picked up his guitar and waited for Mr. Lancer to start speaking again.

Just as he saw the overweight teacher climb the stairs, Sam re-appeared from the back and took her place in front of the stand opposite of Danny.

"I hope you all enjoyed seeing how the school has changed over the past few years. Before we continue with the night's events, the Phantom Chasers have a few more songs for us." A loud shout went up from the crowd, and Danny heard one voice above the rest.

"I love you, Danny!" He winced when he heard Paulina's shrill voice, practically feeling the heat and anger radiating from Sam.

"Thanks again, Mr. Lancer. I hope you guys all enjoy these songs as much as the last ones. We'll start with a song called 'The Hero of Amity', based off of our own Danny Phantom."

They launched into the controversial song, and some people stayed on the sides in protest. Even after ten years, some people still saw him as evil. But once the song ended they melted back onto the dance floor.

After about five songs, Danny announced the last one of the night. _Well, it's now or never._ Sam had sung, but her heart hadn't been in the music—Danny could tell she was still miffed about Paulina.

"Ok, for our last song, we're going to perform one of our favorite songs called "You're Just Too Good To Be True". It was first sung by Gary Lewis and the Playboys back when our parents were still in high school. Guys, grab your gals, 'cause this song is for all of the couples out there."

He saw Paulina start to head towards the stage, but quickly set his guitar down and moved next to Sam. She glared at him but didn't try to move away. _At least she's acknowledging my presence now. It's a start._

He nodded to Ryan and Elyse, who had moved behind the drum set. Kerri and Andy were on his left, and Andy started the song with Ryan. Danny's soft voice soon joined in.

"You're just too good to be true

Can't take my eyes off of you

You'd be like Heaven to touch

I wanna hold you so much

At long last love has arrived

And I thank God I'm alive

You're just too good to be true

Can't take my eyes off of you."

He took the mike from its stand and turned towards Sam, fingering the ring box in his pocket.

"Pardon the way that I stare

There's nothing else to compare

The sight of you makes me weak

There are no words left to speak

But if you feel like I feel

Please let me know that it's real

You're just too good to be true

Can't take my eyes off of you."

Andy and Ryan picked up the tempo, launching into the chorus as Sam's pure voice joined Danny's.

"I love you, baby,

And if it's quite all right

I need you baby

To warm a lonely night

I love you, baby,

Trust in me when I say…

Oh, pretty baby

Don't let me down, I pray,

Oh, pretty baby

Now that I've found you, stay,

And let me love you, baby,

Let me love you…"

Danny took Sam's hand in his, causing her to look up at him in surprise. He caught her gaze and held it as he started the next line alone.

"You're just too good to be true

Can't take my eyes off of you

You'd be like Heaven to touch

I wanna hold you so much

At long last love has arrived

And I thank God I'm alive

You're just too good to be true

Can't take my eyes off of you."

Andy and Ryan jumped into a small duet, Danny's cue to take out the ring. He opened the small box and placed it in her hand, slowly leaning forward to whisper four words that would change their lives forever into her ear.

"Will you marry me?"

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HAH! Told you you'd be hangin. Sam's super pissed at Danny—will she let her anger talk for her? What will her answer be? How mad is she? I know! I know! BWAHAHAHAHAAAA! You'll just have to wait until next weekend! BWAHAHAHAA! I just might make her say no—depends on my mood, and your reviews. So REVIEW!


	5. Chapter 5

SORRY IN ADVANCE FOR ALL FORMATTING ISSUES! If you go to my profile, you'll see the agony. It wouldn't let me load anything. I had to take a REALLY round-about route to get this up, and I still don't know if all the kinks are worked out of the formatting stuff. SORRY! But I think you'll get the general gist of it anyway...:D

Hey you guys! giggles I got so many threatening e-mails, I loved it! Hah, making you guys squirm is fun. I should do it more often! angry mob starts forming No? You don't want me to do it more often? Hmm, ok. I think. Well, here's chapter 5! I won't say anything about it until later—"enjoy!" :D Oh, and this IS the last chapter. I promise this time. Thanks for sticking with me! And sorry for not getting Chapter 12 of The Box Ghost's Revenge up, I'm in a severe slump. But I hope this makes up for it!

OH! WAIT! I forgot last time. A couple things: First, I don't know if those songs I put in are real or not—I just made up some names. Second, GO READ JUST MY STYLE! I love it, and no one really reviewed it. It's so funny! So go check my funny story out! It's short—four pages. AND FUNNY!

**Mistress of Darkness:** Why thank you! I thought Chapter 2 was pretty good too…:D And my compie says you almost got it right—one too many l's. Wow, that means I always spell it wrong! And for finding the song—the song is what gave me the idea in the first place. I heard it and thought—'Danny Phantom fic!' and it just came out. It was originally a one-shot, but it's escalated from then. That's how most of my next few stories are—well, the song ones. I heard the song and the idea just came to me. Like for Just My Style—OMG, that was fun. And by the way: THANK YOU FOR AWESOME REVIEWS! And do you have an account on fanfiction? I searched your name, but there were about 10 that came up and I didn't know if one was you or not.

**Independent.C.:** Hmmm, we'll see…:D

**Disclaimer**: I don't own a lot of things. Like Danny Phantom, or Microsoft, or the college, or the song You're Just Too Good To Be True. But I do own the wonderfully beautiful "gee-tar" and Andy and Ryan and the band Phantom Chasers, I think. And the story idea itself. Yes. Ok, so I don't actually have a guitar that looks like Danny's, nor do I play. But it does look really cool! And I know I said I'd draw it, and I did. I just can't get it to post. And I wouldn't know where to put it anyway. Sorry! So—just use your 'imaaaginaation…' :D

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Sam listened to Danny's voice as he announced the last song. _Our song. This was the first song we danced to as an official couple—it's always been my favorite._ She was surprised when he moved next to her, especially since she had seen Paulina start walking towards the stage when Danny had told the 'guys to grab their gals'. She glowered at him, but didn't move away. Ryan and Andy started singing and she listened wistfully as Danny's clear voice joined them.

"You're just too good to be true

Can't take my eyes off of you

You'd be like Heaven to touch

I wanna hold you so much

At long last love has arrived

And I thank God I'm alive

You're just too good to be true

Can't take my eyes off of you."

_He's got such a wonderful voice._ She thought as she listened to him sing. When he began the next verse, she briefly noticed him put his hand inside his pocket. _Probably fingering his "lucky guitar pick"._ she shook her head slightly, making a mental note to ask him about it later.

"Pardon the way that I stare

There's nothing else to compare

The sight of you makes me weak

There are no words left to speak

But if you feel like I feel

Please let me know that it's real

You're just too good to be true

Can't take my eyes off of you."

She heard the pace of the music pick up, signaling her cue to join in.

"I love you, baby,

And if it's quite all right

I need you baby

To warm a lonely night

I love you, baby,

Trust in me when I say…

Oh, pretty baby

Don't let me down, I pray,

Oh, pretty baby

Now that I've found you, stay,

And let me love you, baby,

Let me love you…"

She finished the chorus with the others and began to turn back to her stand and then jumped in shock as he grabbed her hand. She looked up at him questioningly, but he caught her lilac eyes with his ice blue ones, and she couldn't bring herself to look away.

"You're just too good to be true

Can't take my eyes off of you

You'd be like Heaven to touch

I wanna hold you so much

At long last love has arrived

And I thank God I'm alive

You're just too good to be true

Can't take my eyes off of you."

He finished the verse and broke off, leaving Andy and Ryan to their "duet". She watched in shock as he pulled a small black box from his pocket. _Oh my gosh, it…it can't be! But I thought… _

****

Hands shaking, she took the small box from him. She gasped as she saw a beautiful golden ring lying on dark black velvet and in the center of the ring was a small orb of black onyx. She barely noticed as he leaned down and whispered four words she'd been dying, yet somehow dreading to hear.

"Will you marry me?"

He straightened up and brought the mike to his mouth, rejoining Andy and Ryan as they started the chorus.

"I love you, baby,

And if it's quite all right

I need you baby

To warm a lonely night

I love you, baby,

Trust in me when I say…

Oh, pretty baby

Don't let me down, I pray,

Oh, pretty baby

Now that I've found you, stay,

And let me love you, baby,

Let me love you."

Sam looked into his face and saw the sincerity in his eyes as he sang to her. The song ended in thunderous applause and the curtains fell in front of them, blocking them from the rest of the gym.

"So, Sam, what do you think?" She looked into his shy, hopeful eyes, and all of her doubts and worries from that week melted away. But her anger did not leave as quickly.

"Daniel Fenton, don't you ever do that to me again! I was depressed and snappy all week long because of your shenanigans!" She hissed venomously. His sunny expression turned to confusion.

"But, I—"

"You what? Just decided to make me think you were leaving me! Oh, and that thing with Paulina was a nice touch too."

"I never-"

"Never thought of what you were doing to me! Trouncing around with that slut and ignoring me all week, then asking me out of the blue to marry you? What were you thinking! There are days I can't even figure out why I'm going out with you." Her anger finally spent, she let Danny say his piece, but it wasn't what she expected from him.

"So, I guess—that's a no?" he whispered, taking a deep breath and averting his eyes which were slowly filling with tears. "Okay, I can understand that." He turned away from her and started shuffling to his guitar.

"Danny, I never said that." She rushed up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a deep kiss.

"Putting words into my mouth? Yet another thing to put on the list." she softly stated as they pulled away from each other. Danny cringed slightly.

"Well, the way you were acting, I thought that you didn't, well, love me anymore."

She sighed and dropped her arms, circling them around his waist and resting her head on his shoulder.

"I know, but you deserved it. You had me thinking you were going to break up with me. I know you didn't mean to make me think that, but you really are clueless. I mean, come on, a lucky guitar pick? You don't even use a pick."

He grimaced at her accusation. "I know, that was Tucker's idea. And I'm sorry." He gasped suddenly and frantically started rummaging through his pockets.

"Where'd I put it? I know I had it…"

"Danny, what are you looking for? You already gave me the ring." She frowned as he shook his head.

"No, not that, there was something else…my bag! That's where I left it. Be right back!" He ran off into the back, leaving behind a very confused group of people. Soon he was rushing back, but nothing seemed to be in his hands.

"Danny, what in the world was that all about?"

She had no sooner asked when a light purple lilac appeared in his hand, its fresh petals perfectly curved. Reaching out, she carefully took the flower.

"Danny, its gorgeous!" she breathed. "And you remembered to spread the pollen, too! Thank you!" Ring in one hand and flower in the other, she wrapped him in another hug, suddenly bursting into tears.

"Sammy, what's wrong?" he asked, gently pulling away. She smiled at him through her tears, trying to wipe them away without smearing her makeup too much.

"Nothing's wrong, Danny. I'm just—I don't know. Happy." She managed a half-laugh and Danny took the ring from her hand.

"Here, let me put this on for you." He slipped the golden ring on her finger, the dark onyx catching the light. She leaned up and gave him a quick kiss, then rushed over to where Kerri and Elyse were impatiently waiting to see her ring.

"Oh, Sam, it's beautiful!" Kerri gasped. Elyse took Sam's hand and rocked it back and forth, making the light play off the polished stone. She let Kerri take her hand again and turned to the boys.

"You guys are horrid, letting her think that all week. You're not very good at keeping secrets." Her face softened after she saw the hurt looks on their faces. "But congrats, Danny. Even if it wasn't a flawless proposal."

They all blushed a bright red at her comment. "Sorry, we'll do better next time, promise." Andy said. Ryan and Danny both smacked him, rolling their eyes at his thoughtless comment.

"Ow, what was that for?" he asked, rubbing his arm.

They all broke out into laughter at his hurt expression. _For once, I'm glad I was wrong._ Sam thought as she watched Danny. _I shouldn't have doubted him; I should have known he wouldn't fall for someone as shallow as Paulina._ She smiled wryly as she realized what she'd just thought. _Well, not after he knew what she was really like._ Smiling, she slipped next to Danny and took his hand, happily joining her friend's banter.

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Danny smiled at Sam's shining face as she stood next to him, taking his hand in hers. _Wow, I must be the luckiest guy in the world right about now. I've got the girl of my dreams right next to me, and I finally had the courage to tell Paulina off._ He chuckled lightly at the memory of her offended and confused face as he 'escorted' her off of the stage. He'd wanted to go find Sam and apologize, but she'd disappeared into the bathroom already. Just after she left, he'd realized how much Paulina's words had hurt her—he thought she didn't care what Paulina thought about her. She never had before. But knowing the full story had definitely helped explain her reaction.

"Hey, Danny, congrats!" he looked up from his thoughts and saw Tucker and Valerie ducking behind the curtain, a red mark forming on Tucker's cheek. Valerie rushed over to Sam's side and joined the excited chattering while Tucker joined Danny, Andy, and Ryan, who were pushed from the group as Valerie arrived.

"Hey Tuck. Thanks. It was a bit shaky at first, but I'm still alive. What happened to your face?"

Tucker reached a tentative hand up to the reddish blue spot on his cheek.

"Heh, well, when Valerie saw what was happening she demanded to know what was going on. So I told her what we'd been planning, and boy did I get whacked. She pulled me off to the side and had a few choice words for my poor ears." He shuddered slightly and dropped his hand.

Danny turned a sympathetic smile to his friend. "Yeah, I got quite a lecture too. And that was before she said yes. I was scared she was going to say no just to be spiteful."

Tucker chuckled and clapped his hand on Danny's shoulder. "At least you came out unharmed. And she did said yes—that's all that matters."

Danny smiled and looked over at the group of gushing girls.

"Yeah. That is all that matters."

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Danny and Sam wandered around the gym, hand in hand, watching as Mr. Lancer forced many unwilling participants to play **"**Duck, Duck, Goose**".** In the far corner, a very angry girl clad in pink was glaring in their direction. Sam sighed lightly and leaned against Danny's shoulder.

"Hey, Danny?" she asked, tilting her head to look into his face.

"What did you say to Paulina earlier? She's been glaring at us all night."

Danny looked up and scanned the room, finally spotting the fuming girl in the far corner.

"Not much. You ran off and I realized she'd actually gotten under your skin, so I gave her a few choice words, which she didn't seem to mind, and, um, 'escorted' her off of the stage." A small chuckle escaped his mouth and he quickly tried to turn it into a cough.

"Danny, what do you mean by 'escorted'?" Sam asked suspiciously. _I hope he ecto-blasted her butt off of the stage—that'd teach her to mess with me. _

Danny's face turned a bright red and he turned his head to the side, muttering an answer.

"I, um, calledsecurityonher."

"You what? Don't mumble, Danny." _What did he do to her? It couldn't have been nice—not with the way she's been glaring at us. If looks could kill… _

"I called security on her."

A smug grin crept onto Sam's face. "And what exactly did you tell security?"

A small snort escaped Danny's nose before he answered.

"That she had threatened us with a knife if we didn't do what she wanted us to."

Sam gasped and clamped her hands over her mouth, barely containing the laughter that was bubbling up inside of her.

"You didn't!" she whispered. "Danny, you rock! I wish I could have seen her face."

An excited grin plastered itself onto Danny's face.

"Oh, but you can! Tucker set up a few security cameras earlier, and one of them just happens to face the stage."

Sam didn't bother trying to hold back her laughter as she hugged him. "You're just full of surprises tonight, aren't you?"

He pulled back a bit and kissed her. "Anything for you, Sam."

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To be quite honest, I wasn't all that pleased with how the ending turned out. It just didn't seem up to par with the rest of the chapters. But I sent it to my wonderful beta, darkflame1516, and it is sooo much better now. Thank you!

Sooo, did it make up for me not getting Chapter 12 of The Box Ghost's Revenge out this weekend? I'm hoping so. But I'll TRY to get it out this coming weekend, I just don't know how easy that'll be.

Thanks for sticking with me guys! You all rock. R&R, please!


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